Creating Murals 101

I have been asked many times “How do you create a large mural?” I find murals to be the perfect expression of kid art. It gives them a large area to put down their ideas, as well as work together with their classmates for a common goal. Some students love to paint a specific item and that is what they focus on while others love creating shapes that turn into flowers, trees, animals or plants.

You have asked for it ….so I have created a video on VimeoCreating Murals 101 by Painted Paper as well as some photos of the process on this blog. So grab some paints and brushes and go create!

INSPIRATION

I have a wonderful pop-out poster of a tropical rainforest, that the students enjoy to look at for ideas,as well as visuals on the smart board, and old National Geographic Magazines.

SuppliesLarge display paper is torn and laid over our work tables. Then medium paintbrushes and tempera paints are passed out to the students to let the creations begin.

DESIGNStudents start with the lightest colors first then move to the darker colors…I start with the first class of the day, 2nd grade, and every class after them 4th, 3rd add more details then 5th grade finishes with the black outlining of designs on the mural.

No need for a placemat because the display paper is so large

DETAILS

5th graders were my last class of the day so they outline with black tempera paint to make the images “POP”

You will find various leaves, trees and vines were created by the afternoon 3rd graders.

DRYING

DISPLAYING

Hanging is the fun part because you can step back and enjoy such fun creations!

4 Comments

Do the students wash their brushes between colors? We have two weeks of testing coming up with 30 minute classes and no transition time in between. Murals might be just the thing; thanks for the inspiration!

Students do not ever rinse in my classroom. They start with the lightest colors first then move to the dark colors. I keep the black out of the paint trays until the last class comes in to outline. I have found that water makes the tempera colors washed out. So I rinse the brushes in-between classes.

Falling into Nature with Georgia O’Keeffe

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I have been teaching elementary art for 20 years in Ohio. I love my job and watching my 750 students enjoy the process of creating. I love incorporating children's literature with art lessons, and anything to do with fun, colorful art. I am a mom to two lovable kids. I love to see fun projects and mix it up to create a new project. If you do post about a project please reference back to my blog. It is great getting comments and feedback to pass along to my students. Thanks for checking it out!
Enjoy, Laura